Fragments
by mous1elousi3
Summary: He turns his head towards her hand and she asks, "What is this?" He turns his head away again. Takes a breath and says, "I don't know."
1. Chapter 1

_**A/N: I know there's this whole other story I'm supposed to be writing. Here's this one-shot/drabble/hot mess instead. So very sorry. **_

_**Disclaimer: Ha! As if. I'd be rich!**_

"Lieutenant Matsumoto," says Byakuya as she enters his office, in her usual saunter, smiling at him.

"Captain Kuchiki," she returns, and then gives him a quick onceover that he pretends not to notice. Her gaze lingers though on the bandage that shows at one wrist, too thick for him to wear his tekkou and where she knows there is another at his chest. Still, her smile is steady as she replies, "You're looking well."

He turns his attention to his paperwork and replies, "I would not have been allowed to leave the manor if I was not. Rukia has become… _manic_ in her concern for my health."

Her eyes widen slightly at the admission. There was a time when he would have simply ignored her questions as if she had never spoken. It had taken weeks—and each time he showed up at the tea house when she joined Captain Commander Kyouraku, Captain Ukitake and Nanao was a shock—for him to begin acknowledging her presence with a nod or grunt. Then there was the incident with the Hollow in District Forty-Four, when he had materialised out of nowhere to snatch her out of the way. The next time they met she got an actual sentence.

"Well you cannot blame her. She loves you more than anything in the world, so of course she would be worried," she replies, standing just a foot from his desk now. This close she can see that his complexion is still unhealthily pale, knows that the cause is that he has not exactly been cleared to leave his bed.

"I am a captain, I do not have time to be unwell," he replies, not looking up at her. His pen has not moved since he took it up again. She reaches down and plucks it from his grasp.

This time he does look up, though only his eyes show his offense and something else that she cannot name. His face may show little but the answers are always in his eyes. She does not know when first she realised this. Yet his tone is even as he asks, "What do you think you are doing, Lieutenant?"

She sets the pen back in the holder and asks, without looking at him, "Do you _really_ have clearance to be here? See because I went by the manor earlier and everyone, including Rukia, assured me that you were at the dojo. So imagine our surprise when we went there and did not find you, nor in your office, nor in your gardens and not even in your room. Rukia very nearly fainted, so convinced was she that you had been kidnapped by assassins or something—you know, you really should screen what she's reading."

Byakuya reaches for the pen again and she lifts the holder away from the table. For a moment he sits in silence, staring at her. She feels his gaze on her skin like a burn but still refuses to turn to him. He sighs—another sound that she never expected to hear from him, ever—and sits back, then he replies, "I have work to do. I have to lead by example."

"You have Renji-kun," she replies, turning the tortoiseshell holder about in her hands to catch the sunlight streaming through his window. "And as a lieutenant I can assure you that when the captain pulls a stunt like this, it makes us feel like we're not trusted. Sure you want us with you on the battlefield but clearly we're not ready to run a division."

"You speak boldly for someone with a carefully cultivated reputation as a slacker. It leads one to believe that Captain Hitsugaya's concerns may have a solid foundation," he says.

Now she turns to look at him and she is smiling. She says, "I've never had trouble running the division when he's out. I wonder why?" She folds her arms at her chest and puts a finger to her chin, tapping it lightly as if in deep thought.

He gives a cough that may have been an attempt to cover a laugh and then winces. Her gaze falls on his chest again but when she looks up at his face he is staring back at her so intensely her breath catches. This time she can name what she sees in those charcoal depths and it fills her belly with heat at the same time that her blood runs cold. It is a dangerous look on any man but from him it is downright terrifying. In the past few weeks she has learned that he does not really need money and good looks to charm a woman, though it certainly helps. No, he's too smart to rely on that. She sets the pen holder back down immediately and takes a step back before she can stop herself, hands behind her back.

He stands abruptly, then stops as if unsure what to do next. She does not wait for him to figure it out; she turns and heads straight for the door. It is time to get out while she still has her wits about her. But in an instant he has her by the arm, with her back to the door while he holds it shut with his free hand. Of course this presses her uncomfortably close to him and she clenches her hands into fists at her sides. For a moment too, she is tempted to shake him off, to warn him that the last man who touched her without her permission spent weeks in intensive care in the Fourth. But when he leans in and kisses her she tilts her head to the side and responds.

The last man she let kiss her, she thinks as he loosens his grip on her arm to put his hands around her waist, while hers go around his neck, drawing him closer, was Lieutenant Hisagi. He had been only slightly tipsy but would not have approached her otherwise. She had not been drunk at all, only pretending so that no one could really see how sad she was. When he pressed his lips to hers in a darkened alcove she had let him and then almost immediately regretted it. That was not how she wanted to forget about Gin, not with a man she did not love. Byakuya on the other hand…

Before that moment when he came to her rescue—which pissed her off to no end for he made her look so _weak_ in front of the men, as if she was some _helpless_ damsel who could not take care of herself—she had not thought of him much. Well, yes, when they were in the tea house she had dedicated a lot of time and energy to getting him to talk to her, but that was only because she was curious. He had just showed up one day while they were having tea, said almost nothing throughout and then quietly left. Then he was back again the next week and her interest was piqued.

She had pondered for a long time the cause of his sudden interest. Was he bored? Lonely? Looking for a new hobby? Or were the rumours about his sister and Kurosaki Ichigo true and he just needed to get away from all that unresolved tension before something broke? He gave nothing away, at first through silence and then later by asking disarming questions about her or the others. And he had seemed genuinely interested in her answers too, so much so that she could not bring herself to lie after the first night. In no time at all, he had somehow gotten her to tell him her life-story from the day she met Gin in the Rukongai.

And then he winces when her wandering hand grazes his chest and she pulls away, pressing her back into the door. He looks her over wide-eyed, as if suddenly remembering himself and where they are and _who_ they are and then immediately turns his back to her. Rangiku clasps her hands together at her breasts and steps off the door. A moment later, he says, "Forgive me… I think I should return to the manor."

But he does not move and, cursing herself all the while, she steps forward and puts her hand on his shoulder. He turns his head towards her hand and she asks, "What is this?"

He turns his head away again. Takes a breath and says, "I don't know."

"You don't know?" she asks, scoffing. "You kiss a girl like that and you don't know? Is this how you greet all the girls?"

At this he swings back around to face her, hands clenched at his sides, glaring. Surprised and more than a little alarmed, she backs away to the door again. He watches her, takes a breath and asks, "Did you mind it?"

She blinks and asks, "What?"

"Did you mind that I kissed you? Does it…repulse you?" he asks, eyes searching her face for an answer.

Did she? No. She was sure surprised, yes, but no, she does not mind it. He is an attractive man and even if he was not, he is not the stone cold monster he seems after you get to know him. She shakes her head, unable to find the words.

He turns away again and she wonders if that is the wrong answer. Then, "I am sorry. Forgive my impertinence but I…you do not know how long I have wished…This will go no further if you desire it."

It takes her a moment to respond on account of her brain short-circuiting at the realisation that this, all of it from the first night he showed up at the tea house, is because he has been, well, _courting_ her. The tea, the conversation, the "rescue" was because she had somehow captured his interest. It would have been absolutely adorable if it did not send her into a mild panic. She was right when she decided that he was dangerous, because he has waited, biding his time until she is comfortable enough to approach him like she would any of her friends to spring the trap. And she is caught, hook, line and sinker. No she does not mind the kiss because he spent so much time before it getting to know her that it is quite easy to trust that his interests were not simply in her appearance…that or he is a very skilled actor.

She looks at his back. He has not moved since he stated his piece and probably will not until she responds either. Damn him for making her trust him. She sighs and replies, "If you are wondering, no, I am not going to file a sexual harassment claim against you." He turns to face her again, gaze searching. She continues, "And if this is somehow going to prevent me from dragging you back to the manor, you've got another thing coming, buddy…you don't just kiss a girl like that and then let yourself drop dead on her after…That kiss is going to cost you in other ways." Then she smiles.

It takes him a beat to kiss her again…until her hand brushes his bandaged chest again and she finally drags him back out of the office to the manor.


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N: This is a bit of a different take on a scene that comes from a longer one-shot I may post later.**_

"**Tea and Sympathy"**

"I should warn you," begins Rangiku, pouring Byakuya a cup of warm sake, "if you're going to sit with me, you're going to have to drink. And I'm no lightweight."

Walking into the private room had been like stepping into a sauna, wonderfully warm after the late winter chill outdoors, the world covered in ice, snow and frost. Byakuya settles into his place across from her at the kotatsu and takes his cup. He drinks before replying, "There is no need for your concern. I am quite capable of managing my alcohol consumption."

A pair of perfectly arched eyebrows ascend to her hairline for a moment, before she brings them back down, dropping her gaze to her cup to take a drink. Then she shrugs and says, "Your funeral."

Elsewhere in the teahouse, for it is a teahouse and not a bar and yet Rangiku has managed to procure alcohol, there are the sounds of a quiet afternoon. A girl at the koto sings softly as she plays an old love song about the ill-fated love affair between a shinigami and a human soul. An image of Hisana comes to mind and he washes it away with a drink.

Then there is a hand around his wrist, dragging the cup away and when he looks up, Rangiku is shaking her head at him. "Take it easy there, captain. Let's not drown." She releases his hand and pours herself another cupful which she blows gently on before drinking. He sips at his again and returns his attention to the rest of the teahouse.

Away from their private room are various low-ranked shinigami and members of the nobility. More than a few are still sneaking glances at where he sits with the lieutenant. Rangiku is out of uniform in a flowery, periwinkle and white kimono, which, despite the chill has been opened to expose her generous bosom. Her shortened hair has been carelessly straightened by hand. A fur-lined matching haori lies discarded about her waist. The warmth of the alcohol adds a wonderful flush to every inch of her exposed skin. Without too much effort, he knows exactly what they are thinking.

It does not help that he is also out of uniform, in a more sombre chocolate brown and charcoal kimono depicting a moonlit scene. The chill of the kenseikan lies just that much heavier than the weight of their stares. He considers for a moment having one of the staff close the doors, then realises how much worse that would look and turns his attention back to Rangiku.

She is watching the pictures that adorn the walls of the private room. There are five prints of in total: three describing various teas, one that is just a calligraphy scroll of an old proverb, and the last is beautiful painting of a battlefield. It takes him a moment to realise that this is the Battle of Karakura.

He had not been there but he of course knows all the details. Six captains and nine lieutenants squared off against three traitors and their undead army in a perfect reconstruction of the spiritually-rich Japanese town. Matsumoto is reported to have performed admirably, holding off against three opponents at once until the arrival of Hinamori Momo. Then, barely recovered from a horrific injury sustained in that same fight, she had run away to Soul Society on the trail of Ichimaru Gin. And she had arrived just in time to watch him die, arm ripped off, chest torn open, fox grin wiped off his face once and for all.

To distract her, Byakuya asks, "Are we actually going to drink any tea?" It is a stupid question, of course _not_, but he asks anyway and patiently waits for her reaction.

"Eh?" she utters with a start, and then turns to him, swallows her sake and says, "I'm sorry, got a little wistful there. Tea? Hmm, I don't know, do you really want tea?"

"This is a _teahouse_," he replies without narrowing his gaze. He really wants to but he refrains.

"So?" she asks, playing with the rim of her cup. "We can drink whatever we want. I'm a lieutenant of the Gotei Thirteen and you're a captain." A pause, then she narrows her eyes at him and says, "Wait, you're _that_ captain, the one who's big on rules and order and all that stuff. Well, you can order that if you like but it's not going to make you happy."

He orders two cups of black tea and a spiced snack that she wrinkles her nose at until it arrives and she pops one of the treats into her mouth without asking. Then, "Oh, goodness, how can you eat this?" She immediately starts gagging, eyes watering and he pushes her teacup closer, which she accepts graciously and guzzles like water. He does not laugh out loud. He wants to but he refrains.

But of course her actions draw attention, he feels the gazes of his fellow patrons like a burn. Before he returns to the manor his steward will be on the path waiting for him. The Elders, cocooned in heirloom silk and gold, their ancient bodies creaking with each movement like nightingale floors would have called a meeting. He would be warned, _again_, about the dangers of Rukongai women. Specifically _this _Rukongai woman, lieutenant or no.

Did he learn _nothing_ from the last one? Love is a luxury to the wandering souls of Soul Society, only survival remains for those strong enough to require nourishment. Surely there was a woman among the nobility more appropriate? Someone who would not dishonour the clan and the lord with her blatant disregard for the things they hold dear. Someone who would be there to comfort him when he returned in the evenings, with tea and sympathy for a life she barely understood but tried to make less difficult. Someone who would bear him strong and healthy sons and beautiful daughters, who would raise them with Kuchiki values and strengthen the fortunes of the clan. Someone worthy to be called "my Lady" without shame. Not this woman who drinks like a man, dresses like an oiran and treats life like one very long party.

If Byakuya was looking, he was not but if he was, the first trait he would look for is someone not at all cowed by his manner. He is not unaware of the effect he has on others and Rangiku is definitely not cowed.

When she finally recovers, Rangiku treats him to her meanest glare, but he is unconcerned. Had she asked before dipping into his snack, she would have had advance warning. But then a moment later she takes another and pops it into her mouth as if nothing had ever happened, and asks, "So what brings you to Jurinan? I did not think that Lord Kuchiki had very many friends in the Rukongai."

No way is going to tell her what is really on his mind. She sits with her hands in her lap, looking at him expectantly. He sips his own tea before replying, "I don't. I went for a walk and it took me here."

Her eyes go wide and she asks, "You went for a walk in this weather?"

He shrugs, the slightest lift of his shoulders, and says, "I needed the fresh air."

She snorts and says, "Sounds more like an escape attempt." Then there is a mischievous twinkle in her eyes and she leans forward over the table to him and asks, "Is your family after you to get a wife? Or marry off Rukia-chan? I heard that there have been quite a few very handsome young men sniffing around the manor like hounds in heat recently."

He did not know that. But of course the family would not have told him and sworn the servants to secrecy. One more matter to deal with when he gets back. He replies, "I just needed the air. It is quite lovely outside."

She lifts an eyebrow, sceptical, but then sighs and settles back into her seat. After a moment she says, "I don't like when it's like this." She does not gesture but his gaze goes to snowy courtyard again. Then she downs her sake, refills the cup and finishes that too before adding, with a bright smile that does not reach her eyes, "Thank goodness for sake then, it's always keeps me warm and toasty!"

"Is sake your solution to everything?" he asks, looking down at the bottle.

"Huh?" she says, and then, "Well, no, but it certainly makes having a good time a guarantee. For example, you don't seem like such a stick in the mud anymore. A few more drinks and I'll actually be able to ignore all those times you can be downright rude. So, good time, see?"

This woman… He sets down his tea, sits up straight and says, "I am not a 'stick in the mud'."

She lifts an eyebrow, amusement in her eyes and says, "Well there's a stick somewhere."

He just stares at her and she bursts out laughing, a loud happy laugh that draws attention again and this time he imagines the steward meeting him at the teahouse door. He waits as she settles again, and then says, "There is no stick. I approach matters with the seriousness they deserve."

Her amusement takes on a saucy edge and she says, "No stick, huh? Is that your way of trying to discourage the women of the Seireitei? It's not going to work. Money is an excellent compensation."

He tries, and fails to ignore the innuendo. He will not be pulled into her games. Then he says, "Is that the best you can do?"

She lifts an eyebrow. "Is that a challenge?"

He shrugs, takes up his tea again and says, "We're supposed to be having a good time. I was warned that sitting with you before would be the death of me and all that. I find myself still very much alive."

Both eyebrows go up this time. "You want to try me?"

"I want to give your offer the seriousness it deserves. Rumours mean nothing and you don't really look like you could keep up. You admitted to laziness earlier anyway," he says.

There is a pause where she blinks at him, stunned, and then she smiles and says, "Well then. Get rid of the teacup and close those doors." She immediately pulls out another bottle from her haori and sets it down on the table between them, smiling brightly.

As Byakuya summons the maid he thinks that the steward just might come tearing down the walls instead. But sake and sympathy can be nice too sometimes.


	3. Chapter 3

_**A/N: Not the story I planned to publish but way, way shorter and less problematic. I think.**_

_**Disclaimer: Everything, except the plot maybe, is copyright Tite Kubo, Shuiesha Publishing, blah blah blah, don't sue me.**_

"**Games"**

"Lieutenant Matsumoto?" asked Byakuya with a raised eyebrow as Rangiku entered his study. He was still dressed in his shihakusho, though he had discarded his haori, tekkou and kenseikan. There was a small pot of tea on the low table before him, with only one cup, and a few sheets of paper on the tatami beside him. The doors to the garden were open revealing the fireflies dancing among the flowering trees in the deepening twilight. In this part of the Seireitei where the high nobility lived it was almost as if they were in a different world: one of order, serenity and beauty. Byakuya looked as if he had just settled in to read the day's reports on the daily goings-on of the clan. Or at least, that was what he had said he usually did at this hour.

Her scarf was nowhere in sight.

She swallowed a nervous gulp, berating herself in her head all the while for being so silly, acting as if she had done something wrong, and said, "Good evening, Captain. I just came to collect something I forgot last time." Her voice was calm, steady, she was in control.

He dropped his gaze from her and picked up his tea cup. She watched, heart pounding, as he took a sip, then a second, and put down the cup again. Then he asked, "What did you forget?"

A vision came to her mind. They had been drinking sake and listening to music on the ancient gramophone in the cabinet near the door. There had been fireflies in the garden then too. High on sake she had made an offer to dance for him, a number she had seen once at a geisha house she had briefly worked undercover on the trail of a prostitution ring. The dance itself was nothing out of the ordinary, but the "geisha" would be completely naked by the end of it. Not that she was going to do that for him. He had lifted an eyebrow briefly and then settled back into the cushions. She had smiled at him then and stood with her cup and scarf. She was still smiling halfway through when he tugged on the scarf and pulled her to him and…

"My scarf," she said, willing her cheeks not to redden. She was no blushing maiden. She was way past that. Yet with this man all of a sudden it was as if she was under some kind of kido. It was probably kido. Something known only to handsome noblemen who acted entirely different in private rooms than they were supposed to when they were out in public.

"Oh," he said. Then he set down his cup and called, "Mizuki."

The door slid open behind Rangiku and a maid entered with the pink scarf, neatly folded, in her hands. Rangiku breathed a sigh of relief. She did not really want this conversation to go on longer than necessary. She needed out of this man's presence before he made her do something silly. Like kissing him. That had been enjoyable, quite, but wrong, very wrong. But instead of handing it to her, the maid walked right past the lieutenant and presented the scarf to her employer, and said in a low voice, "Kuchiki-sama."

He took it from her hands and she left immediately. When they were alone again he said, "A maid found it under the cushions after you left and it caused quite the ruckus. I had to swear on my parents' graves to an elderly aunt that I was not hiding women around the house. You should be more careful with your possessions."

She nodded and said, "Yes, yes. Can I have that back now." She took a step forward with her hand out.

He set the scarf beside him and took up his cup for another sip of tea. Rangiku waited, watching him. He looked so much younger when he was dressed down, smaller too. His hands were fine-boned, fingers long and thin. The last time she was here she learned that those hands were also rather strong, his grip a vice on her arm and she was not surprised later on to find that they had left impressions. Then he set the cup down and, looking directly at her, said, "No."

For a second she thought she had misheard. When he made no attempt to correct this impression, her mouth fell open and her eyes grew wide. He continued, "It's mine now. You left it here for over two weeks. The limit at the manor is one."

Her eyebrows climbed her forehead towards her hairline. Surely she did not hear him right. He was watching her, the glint of amusement in his gaze. Then she blinked, and again, before finally sputtering, "What?"

He did not repeat it, but took up his tea cup again and had another sip of tea. For a moment she just stared at him, not at all tracking his lips along the tea cup's rim and remembering with a flush the feel of them on her skin, and then she clenched her hands into fist and marched over to him, her whole body heated, and said, "Give me back my scarf!"

He lifted his gaze to hers now, and raised an eyebrow again. Her cheeks warmed, for an entirely different reason this time. The Soul King had done some of his finest work when he sculpted that face. He said, "Please lower your voice. You'll alarm the staff."

Rangiku was already at her limit. Embarrassment turned to fury. "The what? What the hell? _Give me my scarf back!_" she demanded, fists clenched tightly as if to pound him about the head with them. She could do it too, standing now just a few inches away and towering over his seated form. Captain or no she would have her scarf back. Not that she cared what anyone thought or anything, but its absence had been noticed and commented on so frequently in the past two weeks that she simply had no choice but to return to the scene of the crime to retrieve it.

He dropped his gaze from her face and drank his tea again. Then he said, "You took too long to return for it. It is now my property. Now, will that be all?"

This man was actually _toying_ with her. Did he not know how much courage it took her to work up the courage to come back to this manor after what happened the last time she was there? Not that she was afraid of him. But damn it to hell she was the one who played games with men's heads, _not_ the other way around! How dare he?

With a cry of rage, Rangiku rushed at him, but then he was standing and had seized her hands. His tea cup and the pot lay upended at their feet, spilling tea all over the tatami, soaking into their tabi and the hem of their hakama. A heartbeat where they just stared at each other, she stunned, he looking only mildly alarmed and then there was a whoosh of shunpo and the room was filled with black-clad figures: the Kuchiki guards come to their master's aid. For a moment there was absolute silence and then Rangiku snapped with barely contained rage, "_What the hell is this?_"

Without releasing her, Byakuya inclined his head to the closest guard and said, "The situation is under control."

They needed no further instructions; a blink later they were gone again. Then Byakuya turned to Rangiku and said, "Why are you being so difficult? Nothing happened that you did not want."

The fury went out of her as quickly as it had appeared. Her cheeks heated and reddened again and she dropped her gaze, grinding her teeth. She had always known that this was not a man to trifle with. But it had been so tempting. There he had been walking into the teahouse with his head high and scowling with Ukitake and Kyouraku trailing behind, shepherding him to their booth like a little lost lamb. And he had been so polite, so proper all evening, she just could not resist asking him look for her scarf after she handed it to Nanao and then "forgot" about it. And the next time when she set him on that wild goose chase for where the SWA were hiding their meeting in his manor, a meeting that happened to end some two hours before he arrived. A part of her had always known that she only got away with it because he played along, but she had always been the one to set up the terms of the game.

Or so she had thought. So this is what it felt like to be at the mercy of someone else's whims: at once maddening and exhilarating, as if she wanted to try beating him into submission again or kissing him until he surrendered. She could feel her heart racing, gooseflesh rising along her arms and legs, and it was a little difficult to breathe. Oh yes, it was definitely the latter. Then Byakuya released her, oblivious, she hoped, to the thoughts racing through her head, turned his back and said, "I will return it on one condition."

She took a deep breath to calm herself, massaging the hand he had held though his grip had not been anything like the last time, and asked, "What?" She made no attempt to conceal her irritation.

"Well now, you've spoiled my tea and with all this commotion the staff will be too distressed to prepare a proper dinner," he said. Then he looked back at her and said, "Have dinner with me, tonight. There is a restaurant not too far from here where, if you are worried, no one will recognise you. It is not normally frequented by shinigami."

Before she could stop herself, she said, "I'm wearing my uniform."

He gave her a sweeping glance from head to toe, and then said, "That can be easily rectified. Mizuki."

Once again, the maid appeared, bowed and kneeling at the door. "My lord," she said.

"Lieutenant Matsumoto and I will be dining out this evening. Find her something suitable, and then get Yukiko to help you get her dressed," he commanded.

"I can dress myself. Who said I was going with you!" snapped Rangiku, feeling her ire rising again. A date? He was attempting to blackmail her into going out with him? Who did that? This was not how guys usually asked her out...though she had to give him points for creativity. The bastard.

But the maid had already disappeared and Byakuya turned back to her and asked, "Do you want your scarf back or not?"

She scowled at him but he just smiled.


	4. Chapter 4

_**A/N: Please forgive my attempts at haiku, (yes, I tried it more than once) I suck at poetry. I notice that I also have a tendency to take these two out of uniform but then we so rarely see them in anything else in the manga/anime I can't resist.**_

_**Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, Tite Kubo, Shuiesha Publishing, Shounen Jump, blah blah blah, not mine, blah.**_

"**Proposal"**

_"Since its inception the Kuchiki have been led by a generational head," the Elder had said over tea in Rangiku's quarters at the barracks. "Lord Byakuya is the twenty-eighth such head after his grandfather, Ginrei. His father, Sojun, was unfortunately too sickly all his life and died before he could succeed. Thankfully he managed to sire our current lord before his passing." She paused here to take a sip of tea, a cheap black tea that was provided for all seated officers and Rangiku rarely drank. Rangiku, on the other side of the table, said nothing, absently playing with the ends of the bow she had made of her lieutenant's badge. The woman looked her directly in the eyes over her tea then and said, "There must be a_ twenty-ninth_."_

It was strange, thought Rangiku later as she followed the man himself, as well as Captains Ukitake and Kyouraku and her best friend, Nanao, to his family's private room at the theatre house. No, not strange, it was downright bizarre that the woman, cocooned in fine mint-green silk, her white hair adorned in kanzashi that cost more than Rangiku's entire wardrobe, wrinkled, liver-spotted hands making antiques of her already ancient jewellery and the lieutenant's best tea service, had come to her. What on earth could Rangiku, of all the women in the Seireitei and the Gotei Thirteen have to do with the lines of succession in the Great Noble House of Kuchiki?

A maid drew back the door to the room as they approached and the men let the women in before them. Ukitake and Kyouraku settled with Nanao and Rangiku between them and Byakuya took the cushions on Ukitake's right. This put him directly in Rangiku's line of sight and she could not help looking at him as he sat down.

_"Is he not handsome?" the crone had asked, gnarled fingers dabbing a perfumed handkerchief delicately against her shrivelled mouth. Age had not been kind to her, if she had been beautiful once she certainly was not now, not that one would really ever think that looking at this ancient princess. Money covered flaws much better than makeup._

_"Pictures of him sell only a little better than those for my captain," Rangiku replied, casually, as if she had not a hand in the procurement of said pictures. "It helps that he's independently wealthy, very powerful and currently unattached. What does that have to do with me?"_

_The Elder set her cup down again before replying, "Lord Byakuya has been seen in your company of late, and before you say it, yes we know that this includes Lieutenant Ise and Captains Ukitake and Kyouraku. Of course your presence is the one that stirs the most gossip. So my reason for being here is simple: if you have no interest in Lord Byakuya, then you need to get out of the way. Make it clear that you are barely acquaintances and let us get on with this business. However, if there is the possibility that you may be persuaded to pursue a relationship with him, well then, we have a proposition for you."_

To be frank, the thought of being with Byakuya had never actually crossed Rangiku's mind. Sure he was attractive, but he was also cold, arrogant and downright rude. Granted since the ryoka invasion he had started to mellow, openly spoiling Rukia rotten and not being as abrasive to Renji, but no one was about to pull out the friendship bracelets. It was probably why the clan was having so much trouble finding him a suitable wife, or, as she had come to think of the whole thing since tea: "brood mare". Sure you would have the money but you would still be married to him.

A heavy hand came to rest on her shoulder, dragging her down a little behind Nanao and then Kyouraku whispered, "If you keep staring at Byakkun like that I'm afraid he's going to catch fire. Is everything alright, Ran-chan?"

"Ehh?" she said aloud, feigning surprise. "Oh, I'm sorry, have they started?" As far as deflections went it was hardly her best effort, and everyone was looking at her, but she soldiered through it, adding, "I'm sorry, Commander, my mind just wandered off on its own. I think I spend too much time with Orihime-chan."

Nanao came to her rescue then, pushing her glasses up her nose with a finger as she replied, "No, they haven't. How is Inoue-san these days?"

It worked like a charm. Within minutes Ukitake and Kyouraku were back to their conversation, something about medicine, and Byakuya had returned his attention to the stage. He had spoken only a few words in greeting and not a word since. Why was he even with them? Unlike them, he had come from home and was dressed in a navy blue kimono with periwinkle blue haori depicting a romantic scene of dancing cranes. He looked like an entirely different person, a little weary with eyes too old for his face and maybe a little too thin now that she could get a good look at him out of uniform.

"—giku-san. Rangiku-san?"

"Yes?" she asked, turning to Nanao to find her friend looking at her with an eyebrow raised. Oops.

"I spaced out again, didn't I?" she asked, this time in a low whisper, refusing to look at Kyouraku just beyond. He was not fooled for an instant and though he might be mistaken about why Rangiku was looking, it was just enough for him that she was. And he was not going to be ignored.

Leaning forward to pour himself a cup of tea, he asked, "Ah, Byakkun, it was good that we ran into you when we did. This place is always packed."

Byakuya, pouring himself a cup with long, slender hands, replied without looking at him, "I am sure that you would have been seated. No one would have refused the Captain Commander."

Kyouraku flicked his gaze to Rangiku and looking her in the eye, replied, "At least they would not have after they had a good look at our lovely Ran-chan here. I don't think that there are very many men who would refuse her anything."

"The proprietor of this establishment is female," said Nanao, glaring at him.

He cheerfully continued, "Or women."

Byakuya replied, "She is a lieutenant of the Gotei Thirteen, there are few establishments that would not welcome her patronage."

He did not have to say anything but it was a good answer. Nothing that Kyouraku could play with there, or at least that was what Rangiku thought until the Commander said, "Ah, well, yes, restaurants, but I'm talking about men here. Let's take you, for example, you do not look like the kind of man easily swayed by the more obvious charms (a pointed look to Rangiku's bosom, she glared at him,) but do you not think that she is quite beautiful?"

Byakuya looked over at her and Rangiku found that she was actually curious for his answer. Then he replied, "I find that a person's heart and mind are more attractive than physical attributes, but her countenance is agreeable, yes."

She lifted an eyebrow and Kyouraku snorted and said, "A diplomatic answer. I prefer to think she is prettier than the flower for which she is named. Have you ever seen a sky so blue as her eyes? Gold so bright and fine? Skin so fair and smooth? Why, if it was not for my precious Nanao-chan I would snatch her up for myself."

Then he took hold of one of Rangiku's hands and kissed her palm. She looked at Nanao and scowled. Nanao, however, was laughing. Rangiku snatched her hand back and said, "Go recite your bad poetry to someone else. You sound just like my new recruits."

Byakuya had not laughed nor was he even looking her way, instead down at his tea. Really, why was he with them? Was this the man his relative wanted her to marry? What in all of Soul Society gave that woman the idea that he had any interest in her? She could just see him laughing in her face if she ever dared to pull him aside to ask him about it, or worse, insulting her in some public place. Clearly the old woman had gone senile and Rangiku had been crazy for letting her in.

And then Byakuya said:

"_Imperial flower, _

_great seal of autumn, _

_what warmth your blossom brings."_

All chatter and laughter stopped immediately, all gazes snapped around to him. Byakuya, for his part, looked nonchalant, as if he had not just uttered a word. But they had all heard, and understood and Rangiku's eyes had gone wide. Did he just...? Had he just composed a haiku for her?

Then Kyouraku coughed, cleared his throat and said, "Ah, yes, well, Byakkun has had far better tutors than I…"

There was a scoff, Nanao, and she said, "You mean he has talent. I've told you more than once to stick to writing reports…"

Then Ukitake said, "Now, now, Nanao-san, he is not that terrible…"

"You mean to say that I _am_ terrible?" asked Kyouraku, and that started a mini-argument that left Byakuya and Rangiku to themselves.

Byakuya had turned his attention to the stage, but Rangiku was still staring wide-eyed at him. He was not the first man to compose poetry for her. And Kyouraku's lines had not been the worst, cliché though they were; it was just that…Byakuya had actually sat there and put together a poem for her. Right there, on the spot, as they were all seated and chattering on nonsense.

The crone in her head again: _"There must be a twenty-ninth."_ Ah, that thought brought her back to her senses. Brood mare business.

_Looking Rangiku directly in the eye, though with her head raised so that it was as if she were looking down at the considerably taller lieutenant, the Elder had said, "If perhaps you do have an interest in Lord Byakuya, myself and those members of the family who are willing to overlook your…background in favour of your current position as a member of the Gotei Thirteen would lend our support." Rangiku had stopped playing with her belt to stare at the woman, stunned. The Elder continued, now with slight smile on her face that did not reach her eyes, "We have considerable influence with the young lord. We were the ones who agreed to his marriage to the late Lady Hisana, unfortunate though that turned out. We also understand and accept his predilection for those that others deem unsuitable. I do not mean that as an insult but you are not of noble blood. You are also a lieutenant of considerable power, infinitely more so than the late lady. The matchmaker assured us that there should be no problem with you conceiving, and quickly."_

No thank you. Rangiku had nothing against children; she just preferred them when they had owners she could return them to as soon as stuff started getting sticky. Plus they ruined figures. But this and that were two different things. She said to Byakuya's back, "Thank you…that was…very nice."

He turned his head a little in her direction and said in a low voice, "It was not my best. But you deserved better than the commander's offering."

"That was not your best?" asked Rangiku, trying to ignore the second half of his reply.

"In certain company they would have torn it apart. Too simplistic. Usually we have more time," he replied.

"You mean like, you and a group sit around putting together poems…for fun?" she asked. Byakuya had friends, apart from…whatever it was going on with him and Renji?

"Well usually there are prizes. The worst pieces are usually the most entertaining, the composer must take a drink for each error," he replied.

Rangiku's stared at him wide-eyed and then muttered, "That…is something I would like to see…"

Now Byakuya turned fully to face her and asked, "Can you compose poems?"

He looked only mildly interested, his solemn expression betraying nothing, which was the norm for him though for the first time since he started these outings there was the light of curiosity in his clear grey eyes. It took her a moment to realise that she had zoned out on him again, and she snapped out of it, gave herself a little shake and replied, "No, I was just curious to see what you looked like drunk."

"You think I lose?" he asked. There was the slightest lift on an eyebrow. It was practically his equivalent of her wide-eyed, open-mouthed stare.

She doubted it, but before she could say so, he said, "We are having a meeting this weekend at the manor. I'm sure none of the others will mind an audience though I suggest you be prepared to try at least once."

Did he just? But the silence was going on too long, his brow furrowing. She said with a smile, "I can hold my liquor. Can you?"

"Well then, see you this weekend, lieutenant," he replied, with the slightest of nods, an acknowledgment.

She returned it and he turned back to the stage. She looked back to the others. They were still mocking Kyouraku's writing, though Nanao was giving her a narrow-eyed look, suspicious. Rangiku smiled at her, trying to play it off while a voice in her head demanded to know what the hell she had just done.

Earlier she had said to the old caterpillar, in her cocoon of heirloom silk: _"Right, no. I'm sorry. I understand where you might get the impression from seeing me with my captain that I'm the maternal type, but no, that's not me. Me, I like to have a good time. Go out with friends, dress how I like, say what I want and do what I want when I please. I'm not interested in being tied down and quite frankly I already have a husband: my job and one lifelong contract is enough for me. So go tell whoever you picked out for the good captain that I send my congratulations and good luck on the marriage-thing."_

_The Elder had looked neither pleased nor disappointed with Rangiku's response. That dead-eyed, blank look must be a patented Kuchiki thing. Instead she said, "You would give up an offer to leave all this behind? You would have been richly compensated: your own home elsewhere in the Seireitei if you so desired, an allowance of your year's salary a month for the rest of your life, and the freedom to 'do as you please' once the child was born. You surprise me, lieutenant."_

_Rangiku had folded her arms and replied, "I am the one surprised. Usually you lot only come around to pay people to disappear. I supposed I should be flattered, but I'm more than capable of getting the things I want on my own and I'm happy where I am. Besides, I've lived through too much to settle for marrying a man who seems to have the emotional range of a sheet of paper."_

_The Elder had stared at her for nearly a minute before replying, "There's more to Lord Byakuya than you think. That 'sheet of paper', you speak of, can contain a multitude of emotions once you can read what's written on it."_

Rangiku looked back up at Byakuya just as the lights began to dim to find him hastily writing something on a napkin. A moment later, without turning his head, he slipped the napkin past Ukitake to her. The other captain pretended not to notice, though she felt his gaze, and Nanao's at her shoulder, as she picked it up and read, first, her name in kanji and then:

"_Golden petals spread_

_like fireworks upon the fields._

_The sun at hand!"_


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N: Fun idea I had on the way to work. Think it may be the first in a series of AU pieces. This is inspired by the handful of Korean dramas I've seen and josei manga I've read. **_

_**Disclaimer: Tite Kubo's world, I'm just playing in it.**_

"**AU (1) Matsumoto PI"**

"Matsumoto Rangiku-san…what business brings you to my office this morning? My family has its own slate of private investigators and attorneys for any matters that concern our business or private interests," came a voice as Rangiku was finally, _finally_ let in to see the head of Kuchiki Enterprises.

The man himself stood, not at his desk but at the massive window behind it overlooking Tokyo. They were pretty high up so the view was spectacular. Rangiku tried not to be bothered by this, or the fact that he had had her waiting outside for more than an hour and replied, "Kuchiki Byakuya-san…thank you for agreeing to meet me. This actually has nothing to do with your family; I'm here on a matter concerning a friend of yours, Ukitake Jushiro."

"Ukitake-sempai?" asked Byakuya, He turned away from the window and walked back to his desk. As he got around it the light illuminated his features and despite herself, Rangiku felt her breath hitch.

The magazines did not do him justice. Tall and slim, with a head of sleek, black hair and bright grey eyes on a narrow face, straight nose, high patrician forehead, and that wintry-pale complexion, Kuchiki Byakuya was, without a doubt, the most handsome man in Tokyo business. In fact, he could give most actors and male models some serious competition. In his late twenties, he was already widower, his pretty young wife having died only a few years into their marriage of some undisclosed illness. They had had no children but she had a teenage sister who he had adopted and was supposedly grooming to join the family business. With his aristocratic heritage, wealth and features, he was currently one of Japan's most eligible bachelors.

If she was not still reeling from the whole Gin debacle, and well, quite frankly, the fact that he was _way_ out of her league, Rangiku would have given it a shot.

"Y-yes," she replied, and then cringed at her stammer. She turned her attention to her tote—goodness, why did she take this Fugazi when she had that brand new Coach at home?—to retrieve the folder and distract herself, and continued, "The directors of a youth group he operates hired my company a few months ago, you see, when concerns were raised concerning his interaction with some of their members."

She looked up to hand him the folder to find him staring back at her, gaze flitting over her form though he was apparently unmoved and uninterested. Ah yes, that was the other thing about him that the magazines covered extensively, the fact that this man had a stone cold attitude that kept but the most persistent, and by that she meant, deranged suitors from pursuing.

Ayasegawa Yumichika had been treating her to lunch, dinner and other fancy gifts for weeks to get her to arrange a meeting between them. Yeah, like that was going to happen.

He took it from her and turned again, walking away from the desk to peruse it. She was forced to speak to his back, again, as she said, "The police have already declared that there is not enough evidence, and having met with current and former members of the programme everything seems to be above board. My employer, Hitsugaya Toshiro still volunteers with the group from time to time. The problem is one former member, the first, Ginjou Kugo-san, has been making some very shocking claims and threatening to take them to the media. I have made contact with some members of Ukitake-san's family, but they have little to no information."

She paused when he turned back to her. But when he said nothing, she said, "I heard that you once volunteered with them in the days when he was actively involved in their operations. I was hoping that you might be able to tell me about Ginjou Kugo while you were there…or, even better, get me a face-to-face meeting with Ukitake-san. His silence has the board of directors worried and since he's not at his family estate, but in fact at one of your family's vacation homes, I need your help to get on to him."

Rangiku punctuated this with an encouraging smile and hoped that that was all it would take. Some men in his position expected some kind of bribe, usually the kind that involved her surreptitiously popping a button or hiking up her skirt. She did not mind those too much. She knew she looked good and worked hard to maintain it, but there were others who expected more and fast talking, or sometimes a few judo moves was the only way out of it.

Byakuya's disinterested expression did not change, but he walked back to his desk and handed her the file. Then picking up his phone, he called to someone on the other end, "Cancel my appointments for the next few hours, and tell Abarai to get the car."

Rangiku felt her heartbeat pick up slightly, but before her imagination could run away with her, Byakuya looked up at her said, "I'll tell you what I can on the drive over to the airport. Ukitake-sempai is at Senbonzakura, we'll have to take the jet."

Rangiku stared at him wide-eyed, stunned. Airport? Jet? He took a cell phone from his desk and then walked to the door just as it opened and a secretary entered with his coat.

"Kuchiki-sama," greeted the young woman, holding it out for him.

He took it from her and began to put it on before he noticed that Rangiku had not moved. Then he looked up at her and said, "Ukitake-sempai is a good man who has dedicated his life to improving the lives of at-risk youth throughout Japan. He has also been in poor health for much of his life and this matter will do him no good. Are you coming or not?"

That started Rangiku from her daze and she snatched up the folder and hurried after him, thinking as she went that this must be some kind of relationship for him to drop everything to go deal with a matter that was hardly his business. So much for stone-cold.

**0o0**

The car was a Mercedes, of course, a stretch limousine that took them to a private airport to a private jet and less than an hour later, they were on a small sub-tropical island to the southwest of Japan. There was another car waiting for them there, a black Audi R8 and from the looks of the seating, only Byakuya and Rangiku were going to fit.

Rangiku had spent much of the journey trying her best not to look overwhelmed. It was kind of hard not to be. The Kuchiki were _loaded_ and that was understating the matter entirely. The island they were heading to was technically all theirs, though a portion was rented to the Japanese Defence Forces at an obscene rate. Senbonzakura was a private estate that had been constructed sometime in the Edo period but restored by Byakuya's wife after their marriage. It took up thirty acres and then some and when they flew near to it on their approach, Rangiku could not help pressing her face against the window to get a closer look at the beautiful blooming sakura trees that gave it its name.

Fortunately, Byakuya had taken the time on the way over to detail some of his relationship with Ukitake Jushiro and his history in the Substitutes. Nothing he said sounded too different from what her employer had said. Ukitake was a good man who loved children but would not have any of his own since with his ill health, he did not think that marriage was a good idea. His family and the Kuchiki had been friends for many years; he had even taken Byakuya along with him during summer vacations to the sea for his health.

Was there anything unusual about Ukitake's relationship with the members of the group, particularly the male ones? Well, no, Ukitake just had that personality that children were drawn to and liked to play but he had never touched any of them appropriately, even Byakuya with whom he had been trusted alone on numerous occasions. But Ginjo Kugo…well, that was another matter entirely that was best cleared up by Ukitake.

When they got to the new car, Byakuya climbed into the driver's seat and Rangiku got in the passenger side. There was a second car waiting for Byakuya's tatted-up, red-haired bodyguard/assistant, Abarai Renji (who Rangiku would have been convinced was yakuza if it was not for Gin.) Renji's eyes had threatened to pop out of his head when he first saw Rangiku exiting the elevator in the parking garage behind his boss. No points for guessing where most of his attention lay: 38DD was a size both difficult to shop for and to miss. And it did not hurt, as Rangiku had been invariably reminded, sometimes painfully, uncomfortably since she hit puberty, that she also had the height of a supermodel, an athletic curvy build, golden blonde hair and bright blue eyes.

As she pulled on her seatbelt, Byakuya said, "I should warn you, Matsumoto-san, there's a reason my guard prefer to follow in another car when I get behind the wheel."

"What?" she asked, and a moment later her question was answered when the car suddenly sprang forward like a cheetah on the trail of a gazelle and they sped out of the airstrip.

Rangiku had once dated a guy who liked to speed. He used to drag race at nights in the mountains and talk about making it to the Grand Prix. Too bad he could not drive worth a damn or he might have made it too instead of dying in a horrific crash with a truck and a tree. Rangiku had not been there that night, she never went after sitting through one of his "races" as navigator, but she had seen the aftermath. Sitting beside Byakuya now that image flashed through her head briefly, only to be quickly replaced by the desire for them to go much faster, maybe along a scenic route with lots of winding corners and not another car on the road.

Byakuya _could_ drive worth a damn and he knew it, handling the car with the practised ease of a professional though nowhere in his authorised biographies did anyone mention this. Probably would never. No way in hell having the head of your company racing sports cars on his downtime would not affect your bottom line. Rangiku spent much of the ride gripping her bag and the door handle like a lifeline and kind of hoping that he maybe would take them around the whole island instead of hurrying over.

Ayasegawa would sell his soul to have a tidbit like this.

Twenty minutes later they drove through the front gate of the Senbonzakura estate, scuttling gravel in their wake. Before they could get to the house though, the front doors were thrown open and a small girl came running out to greet them followed by one severe-faced woman and two maids. Rangiku's heart nearly stopped until she remembered the detail about Byakuya's late wife having a younger sister…though nothing had mentioned the girl was practically her spitting image. Same shoulder-length raven-black hair, same wide violet-blue eyes, same cherubic face and petite build that inflated protective instincts in men. If she was not a heartbreaker already, she was going to be.

"My sister, Rukia," said Byakuya by way of explanation.

The girl—well young woman actually, she was in her early twenties now—pulled open the door almost before the car had completely stopped, then paused, remembering herself, and said with a bow, "Nii-sama…welcome home."

"Rukia," said Byakuya, and for a moment Rangiku was sure she heard a softening of his tone.

The girl looked up and smiled warmly at him, and then stuck out her tongue at Renji walking by, who tried to ignore it but then scowled. And then her gaze fell on Rangiku. Then she was stone-faced, expressionless, just like her brother, and she asked, "Who is this?"

"Matsumoto Rangiku-san, she's here to see Ukitake-san." Byakuya replied. "She's a private investigator with Hyourinmaru Investigations, with Hitsugaya Toshiro."

"You work with Hitsugaya-san?" asked the girl, and then her gaze drifted none-too-discreetly at Rangiku's chest before she said, cheeks red, "But he never mentioned that you were this…_hot_!"

Rangiku's cheeks warmed and she replied, "Oh, well, Boss is actually entirely unaffected by me, so if you're interested he's all yours." She added a wink for effect.

The girl went redder, flashed a quick, anxious look at her brother, and said, "We were just going to have lunch, Ukitake-san should be back from the beach now." She could not get back into the house fast enough.

Rangiku looked back to Byakuya to find him watching her with a raised eyebrow. She smiled wider and said, "Cute kid."

Byakuya just grunted and led the way into the house.

Walking into the house, a _vacation _house was like going to the jet all over again. Her entire apartment could fit into the vestibule. Byakuya led her down a long corridor past long rooms through which she could catch glimpses of the sea on one side and either a small courtyard or a tatami-covered room on the other. Before they got to the end of the corridor, Byakuya turned right and then it was down another corridor, this one with another view of a great courtyard with a Zen garden on one side and more rooms on the other. At the end of this corridor they turned left and then out of the side of the house entirely to a modern patio where lunch was being laid out by the cooking staff and there, at long last, sat Ukitake Jushiro.

He stood at once when he saw them, a tall, and thin man with long white hair, though dark eyebrows, bright green eyes, an unhealthy pale complexion and a young face. But it was Byakuya he greeted, "Byakuya-kun? Rukia-chan said that you were back…" His voice trailed off when he saw Rangiku and then his eyebrows climbed his forehead to his hairline a moment before descending again as he narrowed his eyes and, pasting on a smirk, asked, "And who is this lovely young lady? It's been so long since you brought home a girl."

Before Byakuya could reply, Rangiku stepped forward and said, "Matsumoto Rangiku, it is a pleasure to meet you Ukitake-san. I'm here about the Substitutes group and Ginjou Kugo."

Jushiro flashed a quick look to Byakuya, who clarified, "Matsumoto-san was hired by the Substitutes group to investigate Ginjo Kugo. I suspect they were impressed by her handling of the Ichimaru Gin-Aizen Sosuke-Tosen Kaname affair."

Rangiku nearly choked and swung around to look at Byakuya with wide eyes. He did not look at her but, taking a seat at the table, replied, "You did not really think that I would accept your request for an interview and bring you to my home without some kind of background check, did you? I told you before; my family has our own private investigators and attorneys. You took it quite well for a woman whose fiancé was murdered by the yakuza group he had grown up with. But then, at the time you and Hitsugaya-san were preparing to bring down that same group. How courageous. Do you know how many police officers vanished trying to do the same thing?"

Rangiku hesitated only a moment before taking a seat at the table as well, across from Ukitake but beside Rukia, and then asked in a low voice, "How did you know that he was my fiancé? No one knew about that." Ah, yes, why did she think that Kuchiki Byakuya of all people would not have investigated her before bringing her here?

Byakuya had a drink of water before replying, "The shop where he purchased your engagement ring keeps excellent records. Our investigators are quite thorough…as I am assured that you are. You would not be here if you did not think that anything Ukitake-sempai could tell you was of any use."

Rangiku felt for a drink herself, but a strong one, like tequila. Definitely tequila. In a matter of moments she had gone from seriously daydreaming about what it might be like to spend the winters in this place…to wanting to storm out in a huff and maybe put a key to that fancy car in the driveway too on her way out. There was being "thorough" and then there was "invasion of privacy" and she was pretty sure that that line had been crossed somewhere. It was nobody's business that Gin had asked her to marry him. Instead, she replied, "I won't work for someone who I think might be guilty. I needed to speak to Ukitake-san myself to be sure of that before I started tearing apart Ginjou-san's story. And trust me, by the time I'm finished with him, he's going to regret the day he started this campaign. Everything I have found suggests that he is a very spoiled brat throwing a tantrum because he no longer gets his way."

To her surprise, Ukitake's face fell and he exhaled heavily. When she glanced over to Byakuya, brows furrowed, Ukitake replied, "I was hoping that it would not come to that…Ginjou…I have already forgiven him."

Rangiku dropped her gaze to the table and said, "Be that as it may, Ginjou-san is quite intent on destroying you. The people who work with you cannot allow that to happen, for their sake and yours."

Silence fell over the group at the table, save for the sound of Rukia's fingers as she tapped away at her phone. Then Byakuya said, "We can eat and talk. I have two hours before I have a really important meeting to get back to and the sooner we deal with this matter, the better."

"Yes," said Ukitake, smiling again at Rangiku. "Matsumoto-san, do you like candy?"

**0o0**

Two hours later, Rangiku followed Byakuya back out to his sports car convinced that if Ukitake Jushiro was not a saint then he was the most dangerous paedophile in Japanese history. He had held back nothing of his story from the first moment he met Ginjou Kugo to the day the boy disappeared. It was not a happy story.

Ginjou Kugo had been orphaned at an early age and Ukitake met him at the hospital where he had been receiving treatment for his illness. After hearing the boy's story he had immediately applied to be the boy's foster father and with him created the group, Substitutes. But Ginjou had expected more of Ukitake than care to adulthood. He had hoped to be made Ukitake's heir and when he realised that this was not going to happen he reacted with anger. There were fights, loud arguments in front of others in the group and accusations of inappropriate behaviour. When Ukitake finally threatened to throw him out, a threat he claimed he had no intention of following through on, Ginjou disappeared. And now he was back, with fresh accusations and the support of a few other disgruntled former members of the programme.

Rangiku promised Ukitake that she would do what she could to ensure that Ginjou was not treated too harshly by the authorities after this but they all knew that this was not possible. If she was an attorney, they probably could have made some arrangement where Ginjou could disappear again, perhaps for good to someplace far away from Ukitake and his family. Of course, no one involved in trying to protect Ukitake's good name was going to go for that now.

The ride back to the airport and the private jet was just as thrilling as it had been earlier. That dark part of her mind that Rangiku had lost control of on the way over fantasised about her making him pull over somewhere so that she could have her way with him with the engine running. As they neared the airport, she could not stop herself from saying, "Is this how you get the girls? Take them for one hell of a ride in your fancy car and just wait for the panties to drop?"

He looked over at her with a slightly raised eyebrow. She stared back, waiting, though she felt her face warm slightly. Then he gave a small chuckle and said, "This is nothing. If I was really trying, we could be in Paris in the morning."

She ignored the skip her heart made again—good God he was handsome and yes, she could imagine it and yes she was utterly ashamed that she would probably let him take her on the plane before they even got to Europe—and said, "Unfortunately, I have to get back to work now."

They got out of the car together; a valet was on standby to take it back to the house and Renji and the others were already on the tarmac. The bodyguard/assistant greeted them with news for Byakuya and Rangiku found herself forgotten, and boarded the plane ahead of them. She settled into her seat with a happy sigh, and then looked out the window at the island around them. The Ukitake family was nowhere near as wealthy as the Kuchiki but she could see why someone would be so desperate to lay claim to their lifestyle.

"Would you like something to drink?" someone asked.

Rangiku looked up to find Byakuya beside her seat holding out a glass of red wine. She took it from him with a soft "Thank you"...and then that dangerous part of her brain that kept forgetting how way out of her league this man was perked up and she said, "Wait, what's in this? I was not kidding when I said I have to go to work. Boss does not like it when I go missing. Hueco Mundo wasn't always a smoking ruin, you know."

Byakuya gave her a small smile and said, "It is just wine. I have to get back to work as well. Besides, if I was planning to kidnap you, I would not have brought you back to the plane."

She lifted an eyebrow even as she took a sip of the wine. What does expensive wine taste like? A lot like regular wine but being where she was at that moment, Rangiku was sure it was just that much more delicious. Then she said, "What, you have another estate on this island? Like a harem? Hmm, Ginjou-san was way off base about who was the real predator here…"

He settled into his own seat opposite her and replied, "Ginjou Kugo is a fool. I trust that you are satisfied?"

Rangiku was tempted to say no, she was more frustrated than anything because seriously this guy, but instead she said, "Yes. I expect this matter to be over within a matter of days."

"Good," said Byakuya, and then, "I would like a copy of your report, if possible."

"I don't know about that, I don't work for you and a lot of it is pretty sensitive stuff," she replied, looking him directly in the eyes. If he was the client he would have everything he needed, but he was not so he had to forget it. And yet, "Of course, I'm sure your investigators and attorneys already have half this stuff anyway, seeing as they are capable of finding out things I did not know about myself until after Gin died."

His expression did not change. He said, "My sister is here. I have to be careful about the people I let near her. I…am sure that if the situation were reversed Ichimaru-san would have done the same. Aizen Sosuke…is a despicable man."

Rangiku paused and looked at him, _really_ looked at him and finally saw the storm raging in his grey eyes. Her brow furrowed again, a flash of memory, a newspaper article about an assault on a teenage girl and then she looked back at him with wide eyes.

"Rukia-chan…that girl he…that he tried to…was Rukia-chan?" she asked.

Byakuya's jaw clenched and he looked out the window. Rangiku immediately regretted her statement but before she could say anything else, the captain announced that they were ready to go and she focused on committing to memory every part of this lovely island that she was never going to see again. Yumichika was going to pay dearly for details, like new pair of Louboutins dearly.

**0o0**

Back in Tokyo, they took a helicopter to the Kuchiki building and as soon as they were out of it and heading down to Byakuya's office, Rangiku turned to him and said, "Okay, now you're just showing off."

His expression of mild boredom did not change, but Byakuya replied, "Hardly. I have a meeting to attend and as you kept reminding me you have to get back to work or, correct me I'm wrong here, Hitsugaya-san will 'tear Tokyo apart like a tiny, white-haired Godzilla' looking for you." He did not smirk, but it was heavily implied.

Rangiku bit back a smile and said, "That's right. It's been nice, really, and I'm very grateful that you took the time out of your schedule to help me help your friend. Perhaps another time…"

The elevator dinged and the doors opened to reveal Byakuya's stop. He and Renji stepped off and Rangiku stepped back for her three minute ride to the ground floor and her markedly less impressive Corolla. But just before the doors closed, a hand stopped them and when Rangiku looked up, surprised, it was to find Byakuya there.

She blinked, and then asked, "Yes?"

"Another time," he said and presented her with a small rectangular card. She took it, staring at him, stunned, and he stepped back and let the door close. She blinked again and looked down at the card. He had written his cell number and a time, "7:30", onto it. How long had it taken her to get this meeting with the Kuchiki? Three weeks, three weeks during which her investigation had stalled, she began to second guess her decision to contact him...and he had apparently doing a "thorough" examination of her background. And how long had it taken him to give her his number? A few hours. What the hell did he see in that report on her? She blinked again, surely she was still daydreaming, then shook her head and stuffed the card into her tote.

Oh. Yea, best keep this quiet lest Yumichika murder her and try to assume her identity when she went in to deliver her report. And he could keep the Louboutins.


	6. Chapter 6

_**A/N: This is based off of an idea I had on the way to work and another AU story I'm working on. **_

_**Disclaimer: Just borrowing Kubo's stuff for a little while, okay, so please don't sue.**_

"**Fox Bride"**

"_How could you do such a thing, Byakuya-sama? That woman is entirely inappropriate! We had a deal! You agreed that you would not see her again! You agreed that you would marry Lady Ogawa!"_

"_I did give my word, I know. But I could not abide this…I could not let her marry anyone else."_

"_So you snatched her away from her _wedding_?"_

Here's an outfit Matsumoto Rangiku never saw herself wearing: a bridal kimono made of layers upon layers of purest white silk, elaborately embroidered with her and her betrothed's initials along the hem, lining and obi. Or at least it had looked that way when she first put it on that morning. Somewhere along the way out of the temple she lost the hood and the bottom of her kimono is ruined, covered in grass stains and mud. Her hair has started to come loose of its elaborate tie and her make-up has been mostly wiped away. Right now she looks less like blushing bride on her wedding day and more like the aftermath of a pub crawl.

Perhaps it is for the best though. It was a fool idea for her to get married to Hisagi Shuuhei in the first place, and especially since she knew that she was having doubts. Thank goodness Byakuya stood up when he did or she would have actually gone through with it and ruined both their lives.

"_We will not stand for this! Not another Rukongai woman! Lieutenant or not she is unsuitable."_

"_I cannot believe that when you said you were going to that wedding that you would return with the bride! How could you do this! The shame! This situation must be rectified immediately."_

"_Indeed, it should, that's why I propose to marry her, immediately."_

Rukia, seated across from her in the hall looks little better. She arrived at the manor only moments after them and had clearly been caught up in the commotion from the way her hair has gone wild and her missing haori. But she is otherwise unharmed. She starts a little at her brother's demand. Rangiku does not.

Marriage, _again_. She has been expecting it from the moment he took her by the hand and set off for Kuchiki Manor in a burst of shunpo. There will be a scandal regardless but a little less so if they get married quickly and quietly disappear on a long honeymoon. But while his family may cave eventually—at the end of the day they will have received what they wanted, Byakuya will have a wife—their colleagues in the Gotei Thirteen will not be as forgiving.

Shuuhei's expression of absolute dejection will haunt her for weeks to come.

How many years was it, that he said that he had been pursuing her? Apparently since he got out of the academy after first laying eyes on her at the annual Recruitment Day, back when she was a lowly Tenth Division grunt tagging along with Captain Shiba. She was beautiful, he said, and kind and smart and funny and carefree and all those wonderful things. So yes, it had taken him a while to get his shit together and pursue her seriously and then even longer for her to consider him, but he was glad she did.

Her jaw clenches at the memory of him smiling so happily at her. She squeezes her eyes shut, pained, at how easily she had smiled back while knowing that the only reason she had was because she had sided with the Kuchiki Elders against Byakuya, talking him into giving her up to prevent a coup. She was trying to protect him, she had told herself, from his own family. What a wonderful solution she had found then, to break all their hearts.

"_Absolutely not! You will return that woman to her husband and then marry Lady Ogawa and that will be the end of it!"_

"_I will do no such thing. She is _not _his wife and I have no interest in Lady Ogawa. Beautiful and intelligent she may be she bores me. I have lost one wife to illness and barely survived two wars. I agreed to get married again because I know my duty to the clan but that does not mean I will take whatever you throw at me. I will not settle for anything less than what I want!"_

"_You are acting like a child! We told Ginrei that he and Sojun were spoiling you, but did they listen? We will not have that woman as lady of this house!"_

"_Then I suggest you find another home for I will marry no one else!"_

This argument has been going for the greater part of the past hour without any sign yet that either side is willing to give. But of course not, not after this. Honestly, Rangiku wonders how they never saw it coming. Well she had not either, but that was beside the point.

How had this all started? Ah, that's right, the festival. She still does not know what he was doing in the Rukongai. His mask made him a fearsome oni and she, with her fox face, had sought him out when she recognised his reiatsu. What was a captain, lord of a Great Noble House doing in the Rukongai at some nameless festival for some obscure deity or the other? He had replied that he always attended this festival and that this was where he had first met his wife selling spicy treats at one of the stalls. You like spicy things, she had asked, surprised. In reply he had taken her directly to the stall that sold the spiciest, the heat so strong that it made Rangiku's head hurt just looking at it. But then the seller had greeted him by name and rank and prepared his usual and Rangiku's eyes had nearly popped out of her head as he bit into it and smiled. You are full of surprises; she had told him when she recovered from her shock. He had responded with a noncommittal grunt and offered to show her more.

Maybe…maybe she should not have taken him up on the offer.

Of a sudden there are sounds of commotion from somewhere outside. Rangiku and Rukia rush to the nearest window. Though she cannot see them from here, she can clearly identify and count the reiatsu signatures. Hisagi has arrived, with some of the wedding party in tow. The captain commander, Nanao too, and, her heartbeat picks up, members of Central Forty-Six. No crime has been committed but a complaint must have been filed, behaviour unbecoming of officers at the very least, outright fraud if Hisagi is angry enough. A blink and the garden is filled with Kuchiki family guards.

The black-and-grey clad figures, the sons and daughters of some servant clan must know who they have come to stand against but their loyalty is to the clan first and all else second. They will defend their lord and his stolen bride with their lives.

How did that old folktale go about the man who takes a fox for a wife?

The door opens behind them and she and Rukia turn away from the window to find Byakuya and the others looking out. He looks her directly in the eyes for a moment, Rangiku's breath quickens, then down to his sister and says, "Find her something else to wear. We will greet them together."

"Nii-sama," says Rukia with a nod. She turns to Rangiku, her colleague and acquaintance these many years, co-conspirator in the SWA and defender of mankind, of Ichigo and nods again, "Nee-sama."

Rangiku gasps but Rukia has turned her back and so she must follow her down the hall. She glances at Byakuya again as she walks past. He has a slight smile on his face, oblivious to the glares of the Elders around him. She will destroy the clan, they are convinced of it. There is little evidence to contradict them. Did Byakuya not tell her that the Ogawa family had strong connections to more than half of Central Forty-Six?

Half an hour later, they meet Byakuya at the entrance hall with Renji and Ichigo. Fury and embarrassment colour their faces red, at the betrayal, at the subterfuge, but their gazes are determined, serious, and loyal. They will stand with Byakuya, no matter what.

Rangiku is now dressed in an elaborate royal blue kimono covered in embroidered flower petals that appear to be dancing in the wind, with a silver-white obi. The Kuchiki clan crest is featured prominently throughout and it is not a furisode. Later her name will be entered into the family register but for now the symbolism is enough. Byakuya takes her hand as she comes to stand with him and says, "Are you ready for this?"

She intertwines their fingers then looks up at him. No, she wants to say. Does he not know the woman he is sacrificing his family's name for? Does he not remember the man she had destroyed before him, before Hisagi? Her fox mask had not been a cover for her secret nature; it had shown her true face. His eyes say yes, he does know, but no, he does not care.

She tightens her grip on his hand and smiles.

_**A/N: Thanks to everyone still reading and reviewing my crazy ideas.**_


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N: They're like the "Brangelina" of Soul Society, man. "Byakugiku"? "Ranguya"? This story is so mushy and quirky naming abounds. May or may not belong to the "Good Wife" universe.**_

_**Disclaimer: Tite Kubo's, I'm just playing.**_

"**Welcome Home"**

Byakuya steps through the door of the captain's quarters at the Sixth Division compound and immediately comes to a halt. His wife has decided not to await his arrival at the manor the next day, perhaps rightly suspecting that he would want to remain at the division to see the mission through to the end. He felt her reiatsu before he even entered the building but still the sight of her, after far too long in the cold, dark deserts of Hueco Mundo, chasing spirits and shadows on the trail of a ghost, takes his breath away.

Rangiku lies on her side at one side of a large futon with the covers to her throat, fast asleep. Her hair, gilded in the candlelight spreads around her head like a halo. There is a healthy glow to her skin and her as yet unlined and youthful face is even more so at rest. He feels a rash of irritation at the fact that she could not wait up for him, but it is gone a moment later as she breathes out the whisper of his name. Her brow is not crinkled though, so he imagines it to be a pleasant dream.

"Rangiku," he whispers in reply, then draws the door shut behind him and goes to her.

Her eyes snap open when he is halfway across the room and she lifts her head to look at him. He halts again to look at her. In her present state it is best to be cautious, particularly since her zanpakuto rests just behind her head. But after a moment concern relaxes into an easy smile and she lifts a hand from beneath the covers to her lips and whispers, "Shh."

Ah, so of course. He continues to her, discarding first zanpakuto, then haori, tabi, hakama and kosode, and juban until he is left in his fundoshi. There is a spare yukata at the foot of the futon, which he slips on before lifting the covers and sliding in beside her. He does not get very far. For one, their younger son is pressed against his mother's chest, one hand at her shoulder, the other clutching at a breast, legs hooked over her waist. For another, their daughter, the first-born, has her back to her brother, a thumb in her mouth, the other hand tangled in the belt of her yukata. The older son has wrapped himself into a ball at the foot of the bed.

In the morning the older two will wrap themselves around Byakuya until Rangiku forces them to let go and get breakfast.

Rangiku giggles and says, "My guardians, you see."

Sitting up again, Byakuya lifts the boy at the foot of the bed into his arms. Without waking the boy wraps his legs around Byakuya's waist. Byakuya pauses a moment to make sure that the child is still asleep and them lies back and draws up the covers. This son will become the Twenty-Ninth Head of the Kuchiki say the Elders and the rules and traditions of the clan. The daughter is the one with the mind for it, having stubbornly insisted on following her father around since before she could properly crawl.

"It is good to see that they took my instructions seriously," says Byakuya to Rangiku, once he is settled.

She reaches across the children to caress his face and replies, "They live in fear of their sister."

"As they should," he says, looking down for a moment at the child between them. "She is the eldest."

"And your clone," says Rangiku.

"Actually she looks like you," says Byakuya, reaching over to sweep the child's hair from her face. She does, she looks a lot like Rangiku but with his grey eyes and black hair. The second child also has black hair but his mother's eyes and the third has his mother's hair and eyes but looks most like Byakuya. The fourth, another girl, again with the grey eyes, lies asleep in her bassinet next to Rangiku. The fifth has only just begun to make its presence known, rounding out Rangiku's stomach and hips in a way that delights him every time he sees it.

So yes, Byakuya will never admit that he likes to see her, to quote Kenpachi "fat with his child", but he thinks she is loveliest so.

When the physician had given them the happy news three months ago, Rangiku had turned to Byakuya and told him that while she loved him dearly, this had to stop. He had pointed out then that he was hardly the sole guilty party and she had blithely ignored him in favour of lamenting that her captain was going to be furious and not understand that it was not happening on purpose but that her husband just could not keep his grabby little hands off of her.

Of course their unexpected fecundity has been the talk of the Seireitei since the second child was announced. While the high nobility and spiritually-powerful are capable of having children, that they should have _four_, soon-to-be _five_ children in relatively quick succession and little difficulty is unheard of. Well, except to the Omaeda and Ukitake clans maybe, but still. It also has brought on more than a few bawdy jokes that Rangiku repeats with great amusement.

"Tou-san?" comes the hoarse whisper and Byakuya looks down to find his second son awake and staring back up at him. The boy smiles sleepily and then nuzzles his head into his father's neck.

"Go back to sleep," says Byakuya, a gentle command.

Rangiku still lifts an eyebrow at him but before she can comment, their daughter speaks up, "Tou-san…you're home…Kaa-san, Tou-san…"

Rangiku giggles again and says, "Ah, well, I don't think we're going to get much sleep tonight."

"Go back to sleep," Byakuya commands again, but their daughter shifts over to his side of the bed and climbs up onto his side. The third child mutters something but remains firmly attached to his mother.

There had been a summer storm the night their first child was born. Byakuya remembers because he could hear Rangiku agonised cries over the sound of the thunder from the other side of the birthing room in the manor. Rukia was in there with her, speaking in a low soothing voice though he could feel the terror in her reiatsu. Then the midwife had said something about the child being stuck or in the wrong place and he could take it no more and burst into the room.

Rangiku, drenched in sweat, hangs on his sister's arm as she squats over the mat, the midwife on the other side massaging her stomach and back. They all look up when the door is thrown open and Rangiku releases one arm from his sister to reach for him. He is knelt before her in an instant and she puts both arms around his neck, then grasps hold of the collar of his haori and screams.

Byakuya can do nothing but hold onto her and pray to their ancestors and the Soul King that both mother and child be spared.

"I think I have it now," says the midwife after what feels like forever but may only have been a matter of minutes. Supposedly she has coaxed the child into the correct position. Byakuya wonders if this waywardness is an indicator of behaviour to come.

There is a sudden crash of thunder low and close to the manor that rattles the ancient roof. Rangiku starts and looks up into Byakuya's eyes but then there is another contraction and she has to try again to push the child into the world. She is tired, exhausted, and her body trembles in his arms. They have been at this for hours and no amount of kido or special painkillers can remove the pain that comes now. But Rangiku is strong, she will survive this.

There had been a time, once before, when Byakuya could have become a father, he thinks as he struggles to keep his wife upright. Given Hisana's poor health it had been unexpected but happy news and for a time they could both pretend that they were a normal family. He remembers feeling overjoyed. _See_, he wanted to tell the Elders, _our love has borne fruit. I have made the right choice_. And then one day he was summoned to the manor to find blood-stained sheets and Hisana in tears. There was never to be a second.

Rangiku _is_ strong. He can feel that strength in the arms that grip onto his shoulders and collar, the determination in her gaze and the way she still manages to rein in her reiatsu, for the midwife's sake even now when she barely has the strength to continue.

"We're almost there!" calls the midwife. "I'm going to need your help, my lady!"

Rangiku's hands leave his shoulders to join the midwife's between her thighs and with a final battle cry she pulls the child free and into the air between them.

Their daughter, for it is a girl says the midwife though the child is covered in so much fluid and other material that he can barely tell what it actually is, is long, and slim and very purple. Rangiku stares at her with wide eyes, barely breathing and Byakuya finds that he cannot. Then the baby twists its little head, wrinkles its already wrinkled face, opens its mouth and wails. Rangiku gives a cry of relief, kisses the child's head and whispers, in a voice full of awe, "Amagaki."

Their second child is born in the spring, just as the plum blossoms bloom, blinking bright blue eyes up at them before bursting into a wail that threatens to shake the walls of the building. The Elders are pleased and gift Rangiku with three elaborate heirloom kimono, one of which she wears at his naming ceremony. They are not as pleased that she chooses to call the child "Hisaki", and particularly since she uses the kanji from Hisana's name.

The third child is conceived before and then born while Byakuya is away on a mission to Hueco Mundo and is immediately named "Tsubaki". Byakuya thinks that this is why he clings to his mother so much; he came to them in a time of strife when they argued frequently and were often apart. It did not help that there were rumours of infidelity on both sides, her with Lieutenant Hisagi and he with a recently-widowed former childhood friend. Nor that the family had begun to agitate for Rangiku to give up her position in the Gotei Thirteen, like a "good wife and mother would" and Byakuya, worried about the possibility of losing her agreed. But worst of all, if that were possible, had to be the realisation that they had grown a little bored with each other. Time apart turns out to be the best thing for the both of them.

The fourth child blinks her eyes open at dawn but does not cry, and immediately closes them again to sleep. For weeks after too they have to constantly wake her up for feedings, of which she takes little, or baths and changes or simply to make sure she still lives. It is a curious thing to walk into a room in which her siblings are sounding a racket to raise the dead to find the baby comfortably in deep sleep. Rangiku speculates that Haineko must have gotten into the baby somehow but as she still has her zanpakuto and can speak to the spirit can prove nothing. This one is called "Yuuko".

The last child as yet has no name, though the older children have volunteered "Ryuunosuke" and "Ryuuko". They may or may not have been spending too much time with Captain Hitsugaya.

For a time a comfortable quiet settles over the captain's quarters as Byakuya listens to his family sleep. In the morning, both he and Rangiku have work and the older children have their tutors. It will be some time before they can all lie together like this.

And then Yuuko starts to wail and Rangiku and Tsubaki groan and they are all up again. Byakuya sits up but Rangiku is already out of the bed and scolding the child for not sleeping through the night before heading off to the small bathroom to change her. Tsubaki rolls onto his back, blinking, and then turns to look up at his father. There is a moment where father and son stare at each other and then Tsubaki crawls over to join his siblings wrapped around Byakuya.

So Tsubaki has yet to forgive him for not immediately going to see him on his return after the child's birth. Byakuya can hardly blame the boy. He did not actually hold him for the first time until more than three months after returning home. Of course the child's coldness now is nothing compared to Rangiku's fury then.

Rangiku returns with the baby at her breast, humming a lullaby. When she sees Byakuya's state, she giggles and says, "I should take a picture of this. What would Ichigo-kun pay to see you like this?"

"Not nearly enough. If he cannot afford to move out of the manor, he does not have the money," says Byakuya. Actually that is far from the truth. Captain Ukitake has long arranged a home for the former Substitute Shinigami in the Thirteen Division barracks, but it is easier for Byakuya to monitor the boy and Rukia's after-hours interaction under his roof. Not to mention all the free babysitting.

Rangiku slips back unto the futon, still holding the child and lays down, closer now. Then she whispers, looking him in the eye, "Thank you for coming home alive and well."

Byakuya replies, "It is hardly my decision either way."

"I know, but thank you. It's good to see that your men can take orders from me as well," she says with a wink.

He lifts an eyebrow. "You told my men to ensure that I return?"

She shrugs. "We are going to have five children. We are going to watch them grow up together. Then you can die and leave me a rich and powerful woman."

"Is that your way of saying 'I love you, husband. Welcome home?'"

Staring him directly in the eyes she says, "Yes...with the children here."

The fifth child is another girl, dark-haired, arrives in the winter and surprises them all by clearing a path for her golden-haired twin brother. Byakuya knows what Rangiku will call them before she says the words: "Tsukiko" and "Haruki".

**0o0**

**Names (according to the translations I found, I am never looking for children's names again...then again, I could have stopped at three): **

"**Amagaki" – "sweet persimmon"**

"**Hisaki" – "long-lasting life/radiance"**

"**Tsubaki" – "camellia flower", considered unlucky for samurai in the language of flowers, so that must have gone down well, "waiting" or "longing"**

"**Yuuko" – "gentleness/serenity child"**

"**Tsukiko" – "moon child"**

"**Haruki" – "sun/sunny life"**

**The children's suggestion: "Ryuunosuke" – "noble/dragon herald", "Ryuuko" – "noble/dragon child"**


End file.
